Daily Current Affairs MCQ- June 2, 2023 - UPSC MCQ

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)-appointed director, recently resigned from the board of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank (SFB).

About Small Finance Banks (SFBs):

• SFBs are specialized banks that are licensed by RBI to provide financial services and products to low-income individuals and underserved communities, including microfinance and micro-enterprise services, as well as other basic banking services. 
• Aim:
• To provide financial inclusion to these segments of the population who are often excluded from the traditional banking system. 
• SFBs help them to have access to financial products such as small loans, savings, insurance, and other basic banking services.
• SFBs are registered as public limited companies under the Companies Act, 2013 and governed by Banking Regulations Act, 1949; RBI Act, 1934 and other relevant Statutes and Directives from time to time. 
• The guidelines for SFBS were introduced in 2014 by RBI. RBI Guidelines on SFBs in India are:
• SFBs are granted the scheduled bank status after being operational and are deemed suitable under section 42 of the RBI Act,1934. 
• SFBs are required to primarily focus on providing access to financial services to the unbanked and underbanked segments of the population.
• They are required to maintain a minimum Capital to Risk-Weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) of 15%.
• They are required to extend 75% of their Adjusted Net Bank Credit to Priority Sector Lending.
• SFBs are required to open at least 25% of their total branches in unbanked rural areas.
• The minimum paid-up voting equity capital for small finance banks shall be Rs.200 crore.
• SFBs are required to maintain at least 50% of their loan portfolio as microfinance and advances of up to Rs. 25,00,000.
• SFBs are required to comply with various prudential norms and regulations related to income recognition, asset classification, and provisioning.
• SFBs are encouraged to adopt technology to improve their operational efficiency and reach the target segments.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

The Kerala High Court recently held that an application for education loan by a student could not be rejected on the ground of a low CIBIL (Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited) score.

About CIBIL (Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited) score:

• It is a three-digit numeric summary of your credit history.
• CIBIL or Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited maintains and calculates your credit score.
• Value: The value of Credit Score may range between 300 to 900. 
• Lenders can check the CIBIL report and CIBIL Score/CIBIL Rank to evaluate the risk of lending to applicants and accordingly approve or reject new loan/credit card applications
• The closer a CIBIL Score is to 900, the higher are the chances of the consumer's credit card or loan application getting approved.
• How is CIBIL Score calculated?
• It is derived using the credit history found in the CIBIL Report. 
• It takes into account borrowers’ credit profile over the last 36 months.
• The credit profile includes all kinds of loans such as home loans, credit cards, personal loans, automobile loans, overdraft facilities etc that one has availed and their payment history.

Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited (CIBIL):

• It is the leading credit bureau and Credit Information Company (CIC) licensed by Reserve Bank of India.
• Primary Function: To collect and maintain financial data as provided by the lenders to further generate and provide credit reports and credit scores for its customers.
• It maintains credit files on 600 million individuals and 32 million businesses.
• CIBIL India is part of TransUnion, an American multinational group. Hence credit scores are known in India as the CIBIL Transunion score.

What is CIBIL Report?

• It is a consolidated credit report that includes the consumer's CIBIL Score and credit summary, personal information, contact information, employment information, and loan account information.
• It is important to note that lenders consider both the CIBIL Score and Report to assess a person's loan eligibility.

Hence both statements are correct.

The Union government proposes to sell up to 3% stake in state-owned coal India through an offer for sale (OFS).

About Offer For Sale (OFS):

• What is it? OFS is a simpler method of share sale through the exchange platform for listed companies.
• The OFS method was brought in by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in 2012 as a simpler one to aid promoters of listed forms to dilute their stake  and comply with the minimum public shareholding norms by June 2013.
• The method was largely adopted by listed companies, both state-run and private, to adhere to the SEBI order.
• Later, the government started using this route to divest its shareholding in public sector enterprises.
• Features:
• Unlike a follow-on public offering (FPO), where companies can raise funds by issuing fresh shares or promoters can sell their existing stakes, or both, the OFS mechanism is used only when existing shares are put on the block.
• Only promoters or shareholders holding more than 10 per cent of the share capital in a company can come up with such an issue.
• The mechanism is available to 200 top companies in terms of market capitalisation.
• In an OFS, a minimum of 25 per cent of the shares offered, are reserved for mutual funds (MFs) and insurance companies. At any point, no single bidder other than these two institutional categories is allocated more than 25 per cent of the size of the offering.
• A minimum of 10 per cent of the offer size is reserved for retail investors.
• A seller can offer a discount to retail investors either on the bid price or on the final allotment price.
• It is mandatory for the company to inform the stock exchanges two banking days prior to the OFS about its intention.
• Anyone can bid for these shares, be it foreign institutional investors, retail investors or companies.

Hence both statements are not correct.

A Himalayan brown bear was recently captured by the Jammu and Kashmir Wildlife Department, at Rajwara in the North Kashmir district of Handwara.

About Himalayan Brown Bear:

• It is a large carnivore found in the high-altitude regions of the Himalayas. 
• Scientific Name: Ursus arctos isabellinus
• Distribution:
• They are found in North-western and central Himalaya, including Pakistan, India, Nepal, the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China and Bhutan. 
• They are found above the timberline, between 3,000 and 5,500 meters (9,800 and 18,000 feet) above sea level.
• In India, this species exists in small isolated populations in the fragmented alpine and subalpine habitats of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. 
• Features:
• It is the largest mammal in the region, males reaching up to 2.2 m (7 ft) long, while females are a little smaller.
• The bears are omnivorous and hibernate in dens during the winter. 
• It has thick fur which is most often sandy or reddish-brown in colour. 
• Conservation Status:
• IUCN Red List: Critically Endangered
• Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972: Schedule I
• CITES - Appendix I

Hence only statement 2 is correct.

Recently, the Union Cabinet approved forming and empowering an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) to create the world’s largest grain storage plan in the cooperative sector.

• In order to ensure time-bound and uniform implementation of the Plan in a professional manner, the Ministry of Cooperation will implement a pilot project in at least 10 selected districts.
• The Pilot would provide valuable insights into various regional requirements of the project, learnings from which will be suitably incorporated for country-wide implementation of the Plan.
• An inter-ministerial committee (IMC) will be formed under the chairmanship of the Minister of Cooperation, with ministers of Agriculture and Farmer's Welfare, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Food Processing Industries, and secretaries as members “to modify guidelines/ implementation methodologies of schemes of the respective ministries as and when the need arises”.
• Aim: To address the shortage of agricultural storage infrastructure in the country by facilitating the establishment of godowns at the level of primary agricultural credit societies (PACS) and also enabling PACS to undertake various other activities.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, the Union Ministry of Electronics & IT launched the ERSO Pilot initiative to validate certain transformational policy and process changes to make India the Repair Capital of the World.

• It aims to promote India as a hub for repairing electronic goods and to assess the feasibility and potential of capturing 20% of the global repair service market within five years.
• The pilot is being held in Bengaluru and will be run for three months.
• India’s e-waste policy will be modified to enable repair companies to domestically recycle 5% of imported goods by weight on a trial basis.
• The repaired goods will not be permitted to be sold in the domestic market.
• New provisions will be made to allow their exportation to regions other than their country of origin.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Electronics & IT.

Hence both statements are correct.

Recently, the Union Cabinet chaired by the Indian Prime Minister has approved the City Investments to Innovate, Integrate and Sustain 2.0 (CITIIS 2.0) programme.

• It is a program conceived by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in partnership with the French Development Agency (AFD), Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), the European Union (EU), and National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA).
• The program will run for four years, i.e., from 2023 to 2027.
• Objective: The program envisages supporting competitively selected projects promoting a circular economy with a focus on integrated waste management at the city level, climate-oriented reform actions at the State level, and institutional strengthening and knowledge dissemination at the National level.
• Funding: The funding for this program would include a loan from AFD and KfW and a technical assistance grant of Rs.106 cr from the EU.
• It has three major components:
• Component 1:   Financial and technical support for developing projects focused on building climate resilience, adaptation and mitigation in up to 18 smart cities through a selection of competitively selected projects promoting a circular economy with a focus on integrated waste management.
• Component 2:   All States and UTs will be eligible for support on-demand basis.
• The States will be provided support to (a) set up/strengthen their existing State climate centres/ Climate cells/ equivalents (b) create State and city-level Climate Data Observatories (c) facilitate climate-data-driven planning, develop climate action plans and (d) build capacities of municipal functionaries. To achieve these objectives, the PMU at NIUA will coordinate the provision of technical assistance and strategic support to State Governments.
• Component 3:   Interventions at all three levels; Centre, State and City to further climate governance in urban India through institutional strengthening, knowledge dissemination, partnerships, building capacity, research and development to support scale-up across all States and Cities

Hence only statement 2 is correct

A recent round of excavations at the site of Delhi’s Purana Qila or Old Fort has uncovered evidence of the continuous history of the city since the pre-Mauryan era. 

About Purana Qila:

• Location:
• It is located on the South Eastern part of the present city of New Delhi. 
• It is one of the oldest forts in Delhi and built on the banks of river Yamuna.
• The present citadel at Purana Qila started its construction in the reign of  Humayun and was completed by Sher Shah Suri (‘The Lion King’).
• The Qila was inspired by Jama Masjid, which was established 15 years before the reconstruction of Qila.
• Architecture:
• It is rectangular in shape and is spread over an area of 1.5 kilometers. 
• Another amazing feature of the Purana Qila are the three gates that are a display of a happy blend of Hindu and Muslim styles of architecture. – Bara Darwaza or the Big Gate facing west, the Humayun Gate facing south, and the Talaqqi Gate, which is often referred to as the forbidden gate.
• All of the gates are double-storeyed and comprise of huge semi-circular bastions flanking either of their sides.
• These bastions are equal in frequency, except for in the westward wall, where they are built at a distance of 73 meters from each other.
• The eastern and western walls of the Qila are the tallest, which were specifically designed for safeguarding the Kings residing within the four-walls.
• All the walls surrounding the Qila are 0.33 meters thick and supported by bastions.

Hence only statement 1 is correct.

An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team recently arrived in Tokyo for a final review before Japan begins releasing massive amounts of treated radioactive water into the sea from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant.

About International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA):

• It is widely known as the world's "Atoms for Peace and Development"​ organization within the United Nations family.
• Mandate: It is the world's central intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical co-operation in the nuclear field. It works for the safe, secure and peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology.
• History: Though established as an autonomous organisation, independently of the United Nations through its own international treaty, the IAEA Statute, the IAEA reports to both the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council.
• Headquarters: Vienna, Austria.
• Functions:
• The Agency works with its Member States and multiple partners worldwide to promote the safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear technologies.
• It applies nuclear safeguards – consisting of monitoring, inspection, information analysis, and other activities – to verify that nuclear activities remain peaceful and detect and deter their diversion, including to weapons-related purposes.  
• In particular, the IAEA implements comprehensive safeguards agreements mandated by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which serve as a first line of defense against nuclear weapons proliferation. 
• IAEA assists its Member States and promotes the exchange of scientific and technical information between them.
• IAEA enhances national, regional, and international capacities to respond to nuclear and radiological incidents, which is essential to minimizing their impact. 

Hence both statements are correct.

Geologists have recently discovered a never-before-seen volcano at the bottom of the Barents Sea off the coast of Norway, which is erupting with mud, fluids, and gas from the planet's interior. 

About Barents Sea:

• Location:
• It is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean.
• It is located along the northern coasts of Norway and Russia and divided between Norwegian and Russian territorial waters.
• The sea was known to Vikings and medieval Russians as the Murmean Sea.
• The current name of the sea is after the historical Dutch navigator Willem Barentsz.
• Boundaries:
• It is bounded by the Svalbard archipelago in the northwest, Franz Josef Land islands in the northeast, the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the east, the Norwegian Sea and the Greenland Sea in the west, and by the Kola Peninsula in the south. 
• It is separated from the Kara Sea by the Kara Strait and the Novaya Zemlya archipelago. 
• The White Sea and the Pechora Sea are two parts of the Barents Sea.
• The White Sea is a southern arm of the Barents Sea, which separates the Kola Peninsula from the Russian mainland.
• The Pechora Sea is situated in the southeastern part of the Barents Sea.
• Features:
• It is a shallow sea, with an average depth of 230 metres.
• The sea’s deepest point is 600 m at the Bear Island Trench.
• The Barents Sea faces a subarctic climate.
• The waters of the Barents Sea have a high salinity of 34 parts per 1,000.
• Due to the North Atlantic drift, the Barents Sea has a high biological production compared to other oceans of similar latitude.
• Its topography is characterized by troughs and basins, separated by shallow bank areas.

Hence only statement 2 is correct.